Exploring the Gap
by cheshirejin
Summary: Shorts and drabblea on the brotherly relationship between Ayame and Yuki no it's not that sort of relationship
1. Chapter 1

I had trouble coming up with a title for this, but settled on 'Exploring the Gap' (_probably because it sounds like really bad porn_.) I am not sure if this is going to be one story or a collection of one-shots on the same theme. Either way I don't own Fruits basket or the characters I am playing with. No one pays me to play in Takaya-sensei's world I just hang out there for fun.

Chapter 1

"Ayame, why do you insist on bugging Hatori with this?" Asked Yuki on one of his infrequent visits to the shop, "After all he couldn't possibly be interested in what the shopkeeper two doors down wore to work today."

Ayame didn't pause pressing the buttons on his phone to text message his friend; breathing something offhand about "nevertheless 'Tori needs to know". After all nobody really understood and no one ever would, so why try to explain.

'_Why is this man so impossible? Doesn't he have any common sense_?' Yuki asked himself. He wasn't in the best of moods to start with. Student council had been especially draining with elections coming up. He had missed an easy answer on one of his assignments due to reading the question wrong, and to top it off, Shigure had forced him to return a borrowed item to his brother after school. Ok, forced was too strong a word; but he had asked him on front of Tohru knowing Yuki would accept before she could volunteer and add one more thing onto her long list of chores for the day. He hadn't even bothered to look into the paper bag Shigure gave him; sure he did not want to know what the dog could have borrowed from Ayame. He just wanted to drop the sack off and leave, but of course his brother insisted he stay for a cup of tea.

No sooner had they sat down than Ayame had spotted the fashion faux pas he was currently texting his long time friend about. "Stop it Ayame, you are constantly bothering Hatori with useless things, and he is a busy man. He is just too polite to tell you to leave him alone himself." Yuki said, exasperated.

Looking up from his texting; "Bothering him? Is that what you think?" Ayame asked. "Well I suppose it could be seen that way, of course, but I prefer to think of it as sharing a piece of the outside world with 'Tori. He spends so much time cooped up in that dreary place. He has been looking after Akito and the rest of the junishi there without much of a real life of his own since Kana left him." After a brief pause he continued. "Do you really think 'Tori is upset by it? He hasn't ever said anything to me about not wanting to be contacted so much. I would have listened if he had, he knows that." He said waving the possibility off dismissively. "Maybe it is a little extreme to interrupt his day so often with small things. But it's my way of making sure he sees some of life away from the main house, even if it's only through my eyes. Well and the eyes of my new camera-phone of course. Ha-ha-ha." He finished with his typical booming laugh, while snapping a picture of Yuki with said item. "I will file-send him a copy of this when I tell him all about your visit later on the instant messenger."

'_Text, call file-send_?' "Ayame, how many ways do you contact Hatori in a given day anyway?" Yuki asked his curiosity piqued.

"Well I call in the evening after his office closes, but sometimes Akito is sick and needs him then. So if I get no answer, I text him. I use text messaging during the day when he is seeing patients too. I text him each time I see something interesting, and he can reply whenever he gets a chance to that way. I send some things on the instant messenger at night after he is at home because then I can send pictures as well. Also if he has gone to sleep it won't wake him like the phone would. I don't use his pager unless I am really sick, or it is an emergency. I only did that once… And let's see, I send cards for major holidays and write long poetic love letters signed 'from your secret admirer' on April first every year. It's a long story. He still thinks its Shigure. Shhh, don't tell him ok? Hmmmn, I think that's it. I used to send emails but they kept going to his spam filter by mistake. He tried to fix it, but he isn't a computer expert and it never worked right. So I gave up on that."

"That many times; and yet, you don't think you are annoying him somehow?" Yuki asked, simply amazed by the thought.

"Well, maybe I don't care if it does annoy him." Ayame said, turning unexpectedly serious. "What we need and what we want are two different things, Yuki. For example, I hate needles. However if I am sick he would give me an injection whether I want it or not because it will make me better. I see him closing himself off, trying to insulate himself from the rest of the world. He'd spend day after day alone in the main house with nothing but sad memories and sickness to occupy him. If I let him withdraw too much I fear he will quit caring about anything but his work. He would slowly cease to be the man I have always admired so much, and I just can't let that happen. Maybe it is too much, but I haven't seen anyone else but myself and Momiji even try to pull him out of his shell until recently."

Many thoughts went through Yuki's head as he absorbed this information. "Until recently?" he echoed, without actually meaning to speak aloud.

"Oh yes, there is a gleaming ray of hope on the horizon for my dear 'Tori in the person of one Mayuko-chan. I so hope things work out for them. It would be nice indeed to see him truly smile again." Ayame trailed of smiling dreamily at something only he could see.

Yuki looked at his brother, unsure of what to think. He had always assumed that the constant contact with Hatori was something Ayame did for his own selfish reasons. He had often wondered how Hatori put up with him and, to a lesser extent, Shigure. But it seemed now that Ayame had been trying in his own odd way to be some sort of a lifeline between Hatori and the world outside of the main house. This didn't work at all with his image of his brother as selfish egotistical and thoughtless. It was hard to digest. He knew Ayame was a terrible brother who had abandoned him when he needed him most. That fact couldn't be changed. But maybe he wasn't all bad. A horrible brother, yes, but maybe not so bad as a friend. He felt a twinge of jealousy, _'why did Ayame care for them, his friends, more than his own brother?' _

"Oh! Yuki I must apologize, I was hoping to take this time getting to know my wonderful younger brother better, and here I have spent so long talking about myself. It is unforgivable. Tell me. How are things at school? Have you asked the fair princess Tohru to be your own yet?" Ayame was back to his normal irritating self.

Ok, jealousy gone; gratitude reigning supreme. "I really should be getting home now. It's getting late. Tohru will be holding dinner for me." Yuki said standing and quickly leaving.

Ayame jumped up and followed him to the door. "If you say so Yuki, please do stop by any time. And thank Shigure for returning the magazines so promptly for me." He yodeled at the retreating figure, then he added softly; "You don't know how much this time together means to me."

Yuki cringed and walked faster, trying not to think about what kind of magazines he had probably harbored in his book bag at school all day. He hoped they were just fashion related. Shigure would need reference for describing costumes in his period pieces, right? Even the dog wouldn't risk ruining Yuki's reputation as part of a practical joke, would he? Ok, moving on. Go home eat dinner, and then go tend the garden. The leeks should be ready soon. The stupid cat would just have to suffer once they were ready for harvest; everyone else in the house liked them. Thoughts of torturing Kyou with a heaping plateful of the hated vegetable filled his head.

Ayame smiled and waved until Yuki disappeared around the corner. Humming happily to himself he pulled the door shut as he stepped back into the store, straightening displays as he made his way back to the register. The gap between them was still there. But they hadn't fought much at all, and he felt that it was a very good start to mending things between them.

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AN: Still looking for a beta, so please forgive any mistakes that got by me. 


	2. dreaming of peaches

Ayame sat up in his bed, his breath coming in excited gasps. Was it a dream? Or maybe just maybe the most treasured and beloved of all things: an actual memory. He went over the scene in his head again and again, as best he could now that he was awake. It was the kitchen in his Mother's house, but the décor was definitely different than it was currently. Western themed art deco, just like it had been when he was in high school. He saw Yuki, carefully checking around for any observers as he nimbly grabbed a piece of fruit from the bowl on the table. Then he hurried away probably to go hide out in the gardens and enjoy his prize. So Yuki liked fruit, he liked…peaches, yes that was it Yuki likes peaches. It was a memory. It had to be. Aya gleefully kicked his heels up and down against the bed. They were few and far between but he was gradually retrieving what was lost so long ago. Grinning happily he made plans to go visit Shigure's house and take Yuki some peaches as a peace offering.

Then he let his face fall into more contemplative lines as he thought over his recent history with his little brother. '_Oh Yuki, you aren't going to make this easy for me are you? Well, I will get to know you again, of that I am resolute. It's just difficult to do when I can never tell you why I seemed to so callously disregard your existence back then. It was an accident, but still entirely my fault after all. We should never have toyed with something so destructive. There is no atonement for it and I wouldn't ask for your understanding even if it were possible to receive from you.' It was just luck that he wasn't really proficient in his abilities yet and some of the memories have come back over time. You haven't figured it out so far, and for dear 'Tori's sake I hope you never do_.'

AN: Ok so you know the saying about boys with new toys? Well it seems odd that Ayame seemed to forget about Yuki when one of his closest friends has the ability to suppress memories, something he probably had to learn to use at some point. It's just a theory, but doesn't seem like too far of a stretch to me.


	3. lucky Kyou

Disclaimer: No money is made no ownership is implied. Fruits basket and its characters belong to Natsuki Takaya and whoever she has granted license to, but alas not me.

AAAAAHHHHH I took so long updating this!!!!!

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"Hello, Shigure, it is I, Ayame, in all of my brilliant magnificence here to brighten your dreary day…" Ayame said as he breezed into Shigure's house uninvited.

"He's not here," Kyou grouched from his seat at the table where he was studying some sort of schoolwork.

"Wha..?" Ayame said, in a charming and intelligent manner.

"The stupid pervert is hiding from his editor again, who knows when he will get back. So you can leave now."

"Oh it's you, Lucky Kyou." Ayame made himself at home, sitting across the table from Kyou.

"Don't call me that!" the cat snapped.

"Oh but you are lucky, Kyou, more so than you know. But anyway where is my beloved baby brother? I shall take good advantage of this time to bond with him while I await dear Shigure's return," Ayame said, looking around expectantly as if Yuki would materialize from thin air just because he asked about him.

"The rat isn't here either; nobody is here but me. Could you just go already? You're giving me a headache," Kyou griped.

"Oh, you aren't feeling well? Then no problem at all! I will just go make us some tea and I will keep you company until Princess Tohru arrives to nurse you back to health. Don't bother getting up, you just rest. I know where Shigure keeps everything I will need," Ayame said without missing a beat as he got up and breezed into the kitchen. '_Please, don't make me go home alone right now. I can't take the emptiness tonight, just let me stay here for a while longer.'_

"I am not sick! I just don't like you, now GET OUT!" Kyou yelled as Ayame came back with two cups and a plate of sliced yokan to go with the tea. He was brought up short by the look on Ayame's face as the tall man gently put the items on the table and asked him… "Why?"

"Why what?" Kyou asked.

"Why don't you like me? I never did anything to you?" _'I never forgot about you. I didn't walk out of your life when you needed someone most. So, if I never did anything to you, and you can't stand me, then what chance do I have of ever winning Yuki's affection?_'

"Let's see, you are annoying and loud and strange and you always call me that stupid nickname…"

"Lucky Kyou?"

"Yeah that. How could anything about me be lucky?" Kyou said, images of the cat's prison looming in his future.

"But, Kyou, you have been very lucky. Kazuma took you in after your mother passed on and he raised you like his own. Then you got to stay here with Shigure, who is a very fun person in his own right, and my brother who is a wonderful fellow too, if you ever tried to get along with him you'd see that. Then there is the little Princess who dotes on all of you here and keeps this household running smoothly. You are lucky indeed to share time in your life with someone like her. And since you are the cat, you haven't had to sit through any of those boring family banquets Akito throws at New Years; you have truly been blessed to have missed every one of those dreadful things. And best of all you have me to go out of my way and remind you of it every time I see you. So you see? You are lucky in your own way Kyou." The tea kettle whistled loudly in the silence directly following his little speech and Ayame darted into the kitchen to make the tea before Kyou could yell at him to leave again.

'_God, he is too strange for words_.' Kyou thought as he sat, blinking over that logic. '_But he might have a point about Tohru_,' he secretly admitted to himself. Since Ayame seemed to be going to be a while in the kitchen, he decided to go back to his homework. Like he really needed to know about ancient Egypt for anything he was going to do with his life, he snorted, flipping through the pages to the section on Ramses the Great. Let's see he ruled for sixty seven years, lived into his nineties and had four royal wives with many additional lesser wives, and had a ton of children _'Lucky mummy'_.

After a while, Ayame came back in, carrying a tray with a teapot and a few more snacks on it. Setting it on the table and, giving it a half spin for no apparent reason, Ayame looked at Kyou and said, "Well, look at you there, without the scowl you usually wear on your face. I never noticed what an attractive young man you are till now, Kyou-kun," he said as he drifted onto the seat across from him. Ayame just sat there, tapping his finger against his lips like he was deeply contemplating something.

"_Good god he's not hitting on me is he_?" Kyou thought to himself, backing away from the snake slowly so he could make his getaway. '_Please no, not that!'_ the chorus within his mind sang.

"Have you ever considered doing any modeling?" Ayame asked, after coming to some sort of decision.

'_Oh my god! He is hitting on me!' _With a horrified expression Kyou slammed his hands down on the table loudly and yelled, "DON'T BE STUPID!" before rapidly grabbing most of his books and, running upstairs like his tail was on fire, his brain nearly screaming '_EW EW EW EW EW!'_ as he went.

'_Hmm? That boy has got to get more self confidence,'_ Ayame thought, startled by the severe reaction. _'I mean really, running and hiding at the mere mention of having him work as a model. I shall have to remember to mention how attractive he is more often. After all the only way I can think of to keep him out of that little hut in the main house is to get him out into the public eye where he would be missed. Maybe I can get Yuki to help me boost his ego some; yes, it will be something we can do together, as brothers.'_

Just then the door slid open and Tohru stepped into the house, with Yuki right behind her, carrying a couple of sacks of groceries.

"A-Ayame!" Tohru stuttered, upon noticing the elegantly dressed man sitting in the dining room.

Yuki looked up, the slight smile he had been wearing, fading fast. "Why are you here? Where's Shigure?" he asked, looking around as if he expected the man to appear just because he mentioned his name.

"Lucky Kyou said 'Gure was hiding from that nice editor lady again," Ayame answered helpfully.

"So, then where is Kyou?" Yuki asked, wondering why the cat had left Ayame to wander through the house alone.

"He was delicious." Ayame said, enjoying the wide eyed look Tohru gave him for a second, and then he went on to say, "Really, he is upstairs studying or something." With a dismissive wave of his hand he added, "Oh, and speaking of dear Kyou, do you think he is pretty?" This last was directed at Tohru, who immediately started to turn the shade of red only seen in completely ripe tomatoes and stammered a vaguely positive answer. "Yes, I think so too," Ayame continued. "And what do you think, Yuki? Of course he doesn't have the princely charm or stunning looks that you and I do, and his manners are bad too, but he is an attractive fellow isn't he? Maybe we should all make an effort to reassure him about his looks once in a while."

Yuki gave him a flat look that said _'This proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are insane.'_

"Oh, Aaya, you aren't thinking of cheating on me with Kyou are you?" a deep voice said from the outer room.

"Oh! Gure, you are finally home!" Ayame shouted, waving his old friend over.

'_He just invited me in like it was his house'_ Shigure snickered at the thought '_Same old Aaya' _"So what brings you to my humble abode my friend?" he asked with a smile.

"Oh, I had a few minutes free in my busy day and thought I would see how you were faring mon frère," Ayame said casually. "And of course I wanted to see Yuki; it's been so long since we last saw each other," he added, beaming lovingly at his younger brother, who silently rolled his eyes in response. "But as luck would have it Kyou was the only soul home when I arrived, so I was visiting with him, I had just decided to start complementing him on his boyish good looks when he suddenly remembered some homework he urgently needed to finish and hied away upstairs to finish it."

'_Homework…'_ Tohru's eyes were getting bigger as her hair started to stand on end.

Shigure broke into full on laughter, knowing how Kyou would take any compliments of that nature coming from Ayame. After regaining control of himself, he quietly asked Ayame, "You know he probably thinks you were flirting with him now don't you?"

Ayame looked stunned for a moment, recovering quickly; he said, "I didn't mean...You shouldn't laugh like... I was just… oh hell! It is funny, isn't it?" he mumbled, giggling into his hand.

'S_chool…'_ She was forgetting something…something very important…

Yuki tried not to roll his eyes again at what he saw as a pathetic display of juvenile behavior. While he had no urge to protect Kyou from being the butt of their jokes, he wanted no part in it himself. Not even as a spectator, so he took the grocery bags into the kitchen.

' _uniforms'_… "Oh No! I have washing to do or we won't have clean uniforms for tomorrow!" Tohru suddenly eeped.

"Oh, you do the laundry for everyone in the house here, my dear?" Ayame asked with interest.

"Uh huh" she nodded

'_Oh no, what is he after now_?' Yuki thought, cringing inwardly, as the best and worst scenarios he could come up with were equally bad. He left the groceries on the counter and went back to rescue Tohru from his brother's evil clutches.

"Well then, can you answer a few quick questions for me? I really want to know if Kyou has any problem wearing synthetics; some people just can't wear them. He doesn't strike me as an all natural fibers type but you never know. Also do you think he would look good in pastels? I think a light blue is the only non-earthtone I have ever seen him wear and it looked terrific. Then lastly, there is the all important question; boxers or briefs? "

Tohru blinked a few times before her eyes went wide as Ayame's words finally sank in. Flustered, she rattled a few nonsensical noises as her cheeks grew hotter and hotter under the snake's intense gaze. She looked wildly around the room, trying to find a place to hide as she was mortified to think Ayame thought she noticed things like boys' underwear... well, she did, but never in the way Ayame's question was making her think about them just then.

As she flapped about the room like a caged bird looking for a way out, she ran right into Shigure. POOF "I'm sorry, so sorry!" she said to Shigure who was now in the form of a large black dog.

"It's all right, Tohru, let's just go and get you a warm cup of tea to settle your nerves," Shigure said, grabbing his yukata in his mouth and, pushing past Yuki into the kitchen.

Yuki sputtered from the kitchen doorway, stepping aside to let Tohru walk by.

"I need to know since boxers won't work well with tight slacks..." Ayame hollered after her.

The rat paled; did his brother just say what he thought he did? Looking at Tohru fluttering around the room, he knew it for sure. That idiot did ask her about Kyou's underwear! He felt the heat rising in his cheeks, although for a reason vastly different than Tohru's. He was outraged at Ayame's lack of taste and manners. Imagine, discussing such intimate things with Tohru like that. He was about to show his brother the door, by throwing him through it, when a loud and irritating voice roared from across the room.

"Shut the hell up! My underwear is none of your damn business!" Kyou stormed into the room, his face cherry red, and steam coming from his ears.

"But, Kyou, enquiring minds want to know," Ayame shot back at him totally unfazed. "After all it would be wrong for me to be asking this sort of thing about Yuki, what with him being my brother and all. Besides, you are appealing enough for my uses," Ayame said, noticing how flustered his comments were making the cat.

"There is no way you should ever be asking Tohru questions about my underwear!" Kyou bellowed angrily, his hair standing out in something that resembled ears and if you looked you could have sworn he had a fluffy tail standing out behind him. "And what are you smirking at, you damned rat?"

"You, you are so attractive, Kyou," Yuki deadpanned.

"You take that back, right now before I hit you and mess up that girly face of yours," Kyou snarled, his cheeks reddening once more.

"All right, I take it back. There is nothing attractive about you at all," Yuki said as a smug smile settled on his lips.

"Oh! It's on," Kyou said as he balled up his fists and stalked toward Yuki

"Oh, Yuki dear, don't break his face. I want Kyou to model in my next ad campaign," Ayame warned his brother.

"Like hell I will" Kyou snapped, bristling at the thought.

"I think Kyou should model the fantasy sleepwear line!" Shigure hollered from safety of the kitchen.

"Shut up!!!!!" Kyou roared.

"Is that the one with the lacy pink stuff?"Yuki asked, smiling smugly as he took a seat at the table.

"I was thinking blue actually," Ayame said, chewing a nail thoughtfully. "Yes, with his skin tone a light blue would work best."

"I think that would be great, Kyou!" Tohru gushed, bringing in a fresh pot of tea and several cups "but if you really don't want to do it then maybe Ayame could ask Yuki." She added a bit unsurely after seeing the look on Kyou's face.

"I am sure my brother could hire a professional model, Miss Honda," Yuki stated, trying to avoid being dragged into this situation.

"Oh, that is a splendid idea, Princess. Yuki and I working together, side by side, it would be a great opportunity for some genuine bonding…but I really do want Kyou modeling too, after all the creations I make are for the average man and my brother is far above average."

"NO!" Kyou and Yuki shouted in unison.

Ayame sat there and frowned. He brought a delicate hand to his chin as he thought of new plan. _'Got it!'_ he thought. "Well, what if I give you some time to think it over?"

"NO!" the boys chorused angrily.

"Ok, if you are so adamant about it then maybe I could change my plan and have Tohru model the women's line for me instead," the snake said airily. Turning to Tohru, he pushed her chin up gently with the tips of his fingers and gave her a sultry look as he said, "What do you say, Princess? Would you like to be a model for my shop?"

Tohru stood there speechless. No one had ever thought she was pretty enough to model. She blushed as she thought it over. Tohru suddenly felt two sets of eyes glaring at her. She stuttered a hasty apology. "I-I-I- don't know... I- I uh..." She started to flutter around the room again and ran right smack into Shigure as he reentered the room. POOF

"Not again..." the dog said wearily as he grabbed his yukata and left the room.

"Hell no she won't!" Kyou shouted over Tohru's fluttering.

"Leave Miss Honda alone!" Yuki added crossly.

"Ayame, stop bothering Tohru and let's go," a rich deep voice said quietly.

A huge smile broke out over the snake's face. "'Tori! You're here!" He stood and bounded over to the dragon like a little puppy.

"Your assistant called and told me she wasn't able to reach you on the phone so I came to give you a ride home. It is getting late," Hatori said.

That is very kind of you 'Tori, but how did you know I would be here?"

"Just go get in the car." Hatori said irritably.

Turning to face the others, Ayame said, "Well, bye!" And with a quick wave of his hand he was gone, Hatori in tow.

_'Wheew...'_ Yuki thought as calm suddenly descended upon the house.

Shigure stepped out onto the porch, still adjusting his clothes and waved at his oldest friends. "Come by when you have time to visit soon, Ha'ri, 'til next time, Aaya." He waved as they got into the car and pulled away, Ayame waving back at him enthusiastically behind the curved glass of the window.

"That was a nice visit," Ayame said once they pulled out onto the main road. "Yuki didn't hit me or kick me or try to kill me even once this time. And I got to spend some time getting to know Kyou better, he's an interesting fellow. He has a few self esteem issues though. Perhaps if you were to tell him that he is an attractive person too… he might be more reassured if it came from you. It would be so nice if he and Yuki would agree to do the modeling for my shop. I could help Kyou with his issues and spend time with Yuki too, working along side each other we would have to form some sort of bond wouldn't we?"

Hatori made a disparaging sound in the back of his throat but said nothing until he asked Ayame to get out of the car outside of his house.

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AN: For those of you with alerts out sorry bout the multiple alerts. I jumped the gun and posted it before my beta was finished with it. By the way; thanks to my beta, kira, for helping me so much on this one! I think you wrote about a quarter of it so I might have to change your title to co-author : D

I would like to thank all of my reviewers, I am sorry that I don't update this one much but it is more a collection of oneshots that happen when plotbunnies attack than a linear story so updates are going to be pretty sporadic.

Loretta537: yes there will be more updates, but I don't know how many or exactly when. I do have one more chapter in the works already.

Nae'ka: I will have more on the situation in chapter two in the next chapter, that is all I can promise so far.

ylana: Thanks for the kind words my ego feeds off of such. Also I don't include Shigure with Ayame and Momiji only because he visits Hatori at the main house rather then consistently trying to pry his dragon rear out into the wide world outside the gates. It isn't that I don't think he is doing his part as a friend and sticking by Hatori but he respects his feelings more than the other two and doesn't try to pull him from his comfort zone.

Kyoushigurelover: thanks! Better late than never right?

Littlefiction: Don't feel too sorry for Aya, the next chapter will explain why :D


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